Preserved Remains
by The-Moon-dipped-in-Caramel
Summary: Sasuke should have died that night, should have lost everything but Itachi's words and his newfound hatred. He didn't, and it was the cost of his immortality that brought everything down. A story of a boy left behind by time and the one who kept him there
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Don't own naruto. I do own the right to want reviews though. Which I do.

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When you turn your back on the barely breathing form of your former comrade, it isn't regret that you feel. 

When you step into the darkness (again) there is only a cool relief as the light, the burning sun just underneath your skin, that no matter how hard you scratched or ripped or bled wouldn't come out, is extinguished. Standing in the pouring rain, you're glad you're shivering and so cold you can't even feel the pain in your shoulder anymore.

It means that you are safe, that you are still only an avenger, not a _comrade/friend/protector_.

That is when you see _him_, rain sliding down red clouds as _his_ cloak sways gently in the wind. Standing before you, between you and certain power is Uchiha Itachi.

"Our organization does not wish for Orochimaru to obtain the Sharingan"

You can hear the sound of something deep inside yourself breaking; it's a sound so painful you find you can no longer stand, so as you fall to your knees with your hands crushed against your ears its all you can do not to scream, not in front of Itachi.

Maybe it's because you're drained and tired and went from hot (Chidori burning and warm liquid sliding over your wrist) to cold. Or you could blame the curse seal (you can still feel the snakes presence in your mind). Maybe it was the fact that, here Itachi was, and you had just passed up your only chance to kill him before you died.

Left it back in a valley where fists and broken hearts had clashed violently, where history seemed to repeat itself.

But for the boy who had forged a fortress from the cracks of a paper fan, and the blood of his parents creeping towards him, time had never passed in that place. So as the walls cracked and crumbled around him, and a boy who should have died on That Day saw a world that was far from the memories he called home, his scream reverberated throughout the forest.

Itachi watched in interest as his little brother collapsed onto the ground.

Thinking back to Zetsu's words, he wondered if his little brother could have unlocked the Mankekyou. Itachi thinks Sasuke would be clutching at his eyes instead of his ears though, so he dismisses the thought.

When his brother lifts up his head and there's no deadly Mankekyou, Itachi isn't really surprised. Then he notices what's not there, and Itachi is shocked, scared…all of his carefully calculated plans could fall apart in an instant. There's...No...Hate.

"_Niisan_…"

When you open your eyes, it's the first word you can whisper upon gazing at the man in front of you. He looks so much like Itachi, yet so different you really can't be sure. Then the need for it to be your aniki is inside you, so strong it muffles the beat of your heart. It's when you see the similarities, that you say the name again with more strength, hope.

"Niisan."

"Where are we, why-" you're looking at the Sharingan now, and the coldness of his expression freezes the words inside your throat. Itachi would never look at you like that, and a familiar fear is prickling up the back of your spine that tells of unspoken wars and Uchiha's lying in the dirt, breathless and beaten.

Raising a shaking hand at the person in front of you, _because you have to know_… "Are you Itachi?" Silence, but the hand in front of you is too big, and you can feel it now, more chakra than you ever possessed. There is shock, disbelief.

How could you not have noticed? Not have realized your body wasn't your own?

"Come, Sasuke."

Everything stops then, because Itachi is speaking to you in that soft voice that reminds you of sprained ankles and inauguration ceremonies. The words from the past and present intertwine and dance around each other, sliding into place. There's no doubt now, if your not the same, why would Itachi be?

So sasuke smiles and follows, easily falling into place behind his aniki.

If everything is wrong, as long as he has his niisan, Sasuke knows (hopes) it will be alright, that Itachi can fix it.

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ehh...next chapter should be up soon, I think.  



	2. Chapter 2

_Two figures move slowly through the drizzling rain, and the darkening sky. The elder's movements increase slightly, indicating they are nearing their destination. The other's lips curl upward, as his eyes fill with hope. They both have many questions. _

When Itachi enters their camp, for once he is grateful for his partners insufferable hunger, as Kisame is nowhere to be found. Glancing at the small form that has stopped beside him, Itachi moves to sit beside the smoldering fire. following his example Sasuke, sits down to Itachi's left. When their eye's meet across the fires light, Sasuke is the first to break the silence.

"Where's Tou-san and Kaa-san?"

Itachi still isn't sure exactly what has happened to Sasuke. At first he thought it was a genjutsu, but his Sharingan detected nothing. Watching his movements, with Itachi's eyes he can see everything. The way Sasuke fiddles with a leaf, or leans in slightly when Itachi looks like he might speak. It is all done so flawlessly, that Itachi has no choice but to accept the validity of the past.

"They're dead"

Itachi doesn't know how his little brother got like this, but he needs to fix it. He needs to turn forward time, until the clock tolls on a night where he changed the course of history. Itachi isn't the type of person to regret, but sometimes he wonders, when the moon is full and his partner is sleeping deeply. He wonders what it would have been like to watch his brother gaze up at him with something other than adoration or hate. Something that spoke of a life where there was no rivalry or revenge, only a deep and silent understanding.

Sasuke finds that all of his other questions have fallen away. His fears have been confirmed, too much is different, yet still the same. Sasuke's voice is shaking, "How?" Itachi speaks again, his voice its usual monotone. "Uchiha Madara killed every member of the Uchiha clan." "We fled Konoha, as they believed I was responsible." Sasuke doesn't know who that is, but he absorbs the information greedily, flinging it around in his mind until it falls into place. The mark over Itachi's headband fits now. "Then I'm a missing-nin?" "Why can't I remember?"

Itachi's silent form is the only answer Sasuke can obtain. He is about to ask again, _Forgive me Sasuke, another time,_ when he remembers that even if Itachi has to lift his arm higher, It ,_might_, will still hurt. So Sasuke trusts that his brother will tell him later…(_because of course Itachi knows what's wrong with him_).

So there is only confusion In his eyes, and only longing in his heartbeat. Longing for a home where the memories that danced past the walls like shadows have been swept to dust. Because creation always follows destruction, and even if he was able to cheat death, this loneliness is far more painful. All of his memories are sharp now, gripping his heart too tightly in an embrace that rejects even the slightest warmth.

Sasuke draws strength from Itachi's reality, leaning on this last vestige of his memories. Not because he knows nothing else, but because this is everything else. Everything that's still real. That he can still reach out and touch, that Sasuke can still believe in.

When a blue skinned man steps into the clearing with four fish and a large weapon sung over his shoulder, Itachi's Sharingan reflecting off his eyes and Sasukes unfeeling expression is all that is required to shut his half-open mouth, the words that would have escaped are trapped forever, in dark secrets and lonely cobwebs.

Sasuke has become accustomed to his new routine now. Wake up, train, forage, pay the innkeeper, wait for aniki, don't bother kisame-san, train, travel, sleep. Sasuke is growing stronger though, his body already conditioned and accustomed to the harsh training he puts himself through just to keep up with the others. Its already used to being pushed to its limits.

Sometimes Sasuke wonders why its so easy for him to attempt a killing strike on his brother during training, or to hear the sound of a shuriken embedding itself into flesh, when there is only a tree before him, metal glinting through its bark, and a sort of crushed anticipation, even with a perfect throw. Sasuke knows he must have been a ninja once, but he can't remember, so when he finds a rabbit caught in one of his traps, and is sure no one is around, he will whisper "_sorry_" before breaking its neck.

Sometimes late at night, when everyone else is asleep and kisame is snoring too loudly, Itachi will look up and wonder. Because no matter how strong or powerful he is, unmatched in strength even among most Akatsuki, the stars have a way of showing anyone just how small they really are. That even if their movements and actions dictate so much in this world, there are places they can never reach, where their words will simply despair and fall into shadows, finding no purchase in the unknown.

Itachi is not troubled by these thoughts, he never has been. Itachi is not afraid of death, not like Orochimaru, he does not relish other's pain, not like Kisame. He sees the world in shades of gray, where killing, standing over his own parents corpses means nothing, because their lives were insignificant to begin with. To his little brother though, they meant so much more, that's why there was meaning in their deaths, an order that came not from a scroll or the Hokage, but from his own heart.

Sasuke's existence gave his life meaning, and he had wanted more, to be truly real. It was a selfish wish, one bathed in the blood of the Uchiha, but a moment of freedom, to show everyone just a glimpse of his world, of the stars. To have someone live and breath and exist just for you, to become truly powerful, because isn't that what his little brother always wanted? Itachi will have to wait a little longer before he can sleep, no matter how tired he really is.

_If you had a chance to take it all back, to redo everything, would you? The regret in your eyes, can you see it?_


End file.
